


Roll With the Punches

by aandromedaa



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: Fake Dating, M/M, Officially canon-divergent as of you’re in control, boxman’s freakin’ pissed, everyone’s confused, title subject to change because I’m indecisive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-18
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-02-03 20:12:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12755367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aandromedaa/pseuds/aandromedaa
Summary: Attention-seeking robot dates local hero to spite his inattentive dad, more at 11.





	1. Chapter 1

     Raymond was mad. No, that was an understatement, he was fuming, furious even. Ever since his siblings had shown him up by capturing that kid from across the street—which was short lived anyway—he hadn’t been able to become the “favorite” again no matter what he did, and it was beginning to bug him.

     He was the newest model—well, newest next to Mikayla, but she didn’t seem to care about the other siblings’ petty rivalry—he assumed he would get some recognition for that fact, but apparently not. Darrell and Shannon were still always sent out over him. At first he tried to convince himself it was because he was more expensive to build, but that was short-lived as well, considering he hardly ever let those heroes land a single hit on him. No, this was simply due to his father’s finicky temperament; his favorite was whoever came out on top last, and coming out on top was an impossible feat since he couldn’t win if he _never fought_.

     Well, if he wasn’t going to be the favorite, he’d make a name for himself in another way. _Problem child, here I come_ , he thought to himself as he stood up to make his way to the plaza across the street.

     “Raymond, where are you going?” Darrell called after him as Raymond passed his doorway.

     “Don’t worry about it.” He didn’t slow down a bit, staring straight ahead.

     “Did Dad send you to the plaza?” Shannon caught up to him, struggling to keep up with his stride. “‘Cause I didn’t hear the alarm.”

     He rolled his eyes. “Does he ever?”

     “Seriously, where are you going?” She jumped in front of him, hands on her hips, and Raymond was finally forced to stop. “Tell me or—“ an idea popped into her head, and she smiled deviously “—or I’ll tell dad!”

     He matched her expression and crossed his arms. “Fantastic. Tell him, it’ll be a lot less work for me.” With that, he pushed past his sister and out the front doors of Boxmore Industries, leaving her dumbfounded in his wake.

* * *

 

     The door flung open with a _bang_!

     “Welcome to Gar’s Bodega,” the pink-haired cashier—Enid, he recalled—greeted him, not looking up from her magazine.

     “Uh, Enid? Why’s a Raymond in here?” Enid’s little coworker—K.O.—asked.

     “Wha—hey!” She sprung to her feet into a fighting stance. “Why didn’t the alert go off?” she wondered out loud. Before she could make a move, Raymond fired a tennis net at her, effectively rendering her harmless. Enid was far too spunky to go along with what he had planned, without a fight anyway. He looked past her and the kid trying desperately to free her and out into the rest of the stunned patrons.

     Everyone stood ready to pounce at any movement, ready to “save the day”. He’d expect nothing less from a bunch of heroes, but he still had a decision to make. Most of them looked like they’d be just as much of a challenge as Enid, all far too determined in their own abilities. Oh well, he might as well cut his losses and—

     “What’s all the yelling about?” The blue one—Rad—walked out of the back door, rubbing his eyes as if he had just woken up from a nap. “I was _trying_ to do some lifting before my break ended.”

      _Hmm_ , Raymond thought. He was a decent fighter, a good dancer, and definitely agreeable if his little affair with Shannon was anything to go by. She complimented him _once_ and he was head-over-heels in love within minutes. This would be so easy.

     Raymond sauntered over to him, looking right past the confused stares of the heroes. “You’re coming with me,” he said to him, smiling confidently.

     “Wait, what?” What the heck is going on?” Rad protested as Raymond grabbed him by the hand and started to lead him out of the bodega. He struggled to get out of his grasp, and Raymond hoped he wouldn’t remember he could break out of his grasp at any moment. As soon as they left the building, Raymond relaxed his hand and Rad yanked his back.

     “Hope you didn’t think capturing me was gonna be _that_ easy,” he boasted, a purple aura beginning to surround his hands.

     “Oh, please,” Raymond rolled his eyes. “If I wanted to capture you, you’d already be at Boxmore.”

     “Then why’d you drag me out here?”

     As if on cue, out walked Lord Boxman, pulled by Darrell and Shannon begging for him to see what Raymond was doing, even if they didn’t know themselves.

     “So you dragged me out here and you don’t know why? Great, this is a giant waste of time!” His father’s irritated voice carried over from across the street. Game on.

     “Rad—” he paused dramatically, mostly to ensure his father was listening “—I am here to profess my undying love for you!”

     The plaza went completely silent. At that moment, Enid and K.O. had run outside to help Rad, but the proclamation had stunned them. Even Rad, who usually always had something to say, was left at a loss for words, his face a mixture of confusion and embarrassment, the hint of a blush on his cheeks. Finally, someone broke the silence.

     “WHAT?!” The yell, unsurprisingly, came from his father, who was fuming now at the side of the road alongside his two siblings, who looked on in shock.

     “From the first day, I have been enamored with the way you move, the way you talk, the way you are.” He pulled a rose from his hair and forced it into Rad’s hand. The plaza heroes looked on, unsure if they should intervene.

     “I—“ Rad began, but Raymond cut him off, pressing a finger to his lips.

     “I know, you’re at a loss for words! And who could blame you?” He winked, and finally Rad was pulled out of his confusion.

     “Woah woah woah, what are you talking about?” he asked, taking a step back from the robot.

     “Just go along with it,” Raymond stage-whispered, his romantic façade breaking for a moment.

     “Nuh-Uh! I’m not just gonna ‘go along with it’, are you crazy?” Rad’s voice was getting louder with every word; if this kept up, his father would see right through this ruse.

     “I’ll make it worth your while,” he promised, and discreetly pulled out a thousand technos. “And there’s more where that came from.” Rad’s eyes widened and he appeared to be considering his options when Raymond noticed his father marching towards them vehemently; still time for one last act of defiance.

     “Fine, I’ll go along with this,” Rad said begrudgingly.

     Raymond pulled him in. “Fantastic.” He smirked as he dipped him and planted a kiss on his unsuspecting lips. His eyes closed, for believability, of course, and after a moment, he pulled Rad back up.

     “Until we meet again~,” Raymond said, letting his hand linger long enough in Rad’s hand to slip the technos, before turning towards the hurricane he created. He’d get an earful for this at the least, and if he was honest, he terrified to think of what was going to happen. Regardless, he walked nonchalantly towards the factory, right past Lord Boxman, who was so furious he could hardly form a coherent sentence.

     Mission accomplished.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> >>>wait, what just happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leading into things

     “I cannot BEGIN to comprehend what is going on here!” Boxman yelled, more to himself than anything, but Raymond found himself wincing anyways. No more than five seconds after he walked in the door, his father had been hounding him about what transpired, and Raymond, against his every instinct, blew off question after question until he was practically streaming.

     Now, he was pacing incessantly across the small office usually reserved for Ernestos. Time ticked by painfully slowly, and Raymond was starting to think twice about his, in hindsight, rather rash plan, but he had to admit, this was the most his father had acknowledged him in the past week; it wasn’t all bad.

     “Do you _want_ to be discontinued?” Boxman asked suddenly, stopping in his tracks, and Raymond stiffened, the very thought striking fear into him, but he retained his composure.

     “I make the company too much money to just be discontinued,” he answered coolly, and apparently called his bluff.

     “I—well, you—gah!” He huffed in frustration. Out of the corner of his eye, Raymond caught Shannon peeking her head in the doorway; and they called _him_ nosy. “Friendship ruins this business, do you understand that? I can’t run a business with robots who run around and make _friends_ ,” he spat the word like it was poison in his mouth. Before he knew what he was doing, Raymond opened his mouth.

     “Boyfriend,” he corrected.

     Boxman slammed his fist into the wall next to the doorway with a bang! and stormed out, yelling over his shoulder, “You aren’t getting sent out for a month! Two months! Don’t even think about leaving this building!”

      _Can’t ignore me now, can you?_ Raymond thought to himself, a smirk forming on his lips, and he turned to walk back to his room.

     “What happened?” Shannon appeared suddenly in the doorway.

     “Pretty sure you already heard,” he brushed her off, moving around her and continuing on his way.

     “So, just reboot already, then,” she told him, letting out a little nervous laugh, as if she were staring the obvious.

     “I don’t need to,” He stopped and turned to face her again. “Where’s Darrell?”

     “Here I am!” His head popped up from behind a potted plant, and Raymond gave him a half-hearted smile.

     “Don’t you remember what happened to me that last time?” Shannon asked. “Just reboot already so you can get back to normal.”

     “Yeah!” Darrell joined in.

     “My circuits aren’t fried, and I’m not going to reset.”

     “Well obviously _you_ don’t think so, but trust me—“

     “No, trust _me_ , I’m better than ever,” he snapped. “Besides, you two wouldn’t understand anyways.” Not waiting to give an explanation, he turned on his heel and walked away, his feet clacking against the metal floor down the hallway as he made his way to his room. Faintly, he could hear his brother and sister continue to talk about him; he caught words and bits of phrases, but he tuned them out, choosing instead to focus on the monotonous drone of the factory machines. _So far, so good._

———

     “Dude, seriously, tell me what the hell is going on.” Enid stood, arms crossed, blocking the entrance to the storage room.

     In all honesty, Rad’s guess was as good as theirs as to what was going on, but he wasn’t sure how to tell them “the evil robot bribed me to do that” without bringing up more questions. Eventually, he just said, “I don’t know.”

     “Oh really? You have NO idea about any of that?” She gestured to the plaza. “Did you seriously learn nothing with the—“ she lowered her voice “—Shannon incident?” He rolled his eyes.

     “Whatever, dude, this isn’t like that; it’s not real!” he admitted.

     “What do you mean ‘not real’? What other context could _that_ possibly be in?”

     “Look, he literally offered me… money to go along with… that.” Hearing himself say it outloud made him realize the sheer ridiculousness of the entire situation, plus, he still wasn’t sure what “that” was. Come to think of it, he hadn’t really thought about any of this realistically; was he seriously gonna trust the evil robot over literally everything else he knew?

     “Don’t tell me you trust him.”

     “ _Obviously_ not, do I look like an idiot?” Enid raised an eyebrow as if to say _do you really want me to answer that?_ “But if he _is_ telling the truth, I don’t want to pass up a thousand technos.” Truthfully, a thousand technos wouldn’t get him much, but he definitely wasn’t going to stick up his nose if he was getting it practically for _free_.

     Then again, there was the nature of this little arrangement, and the fact that Rad knew next to nothing about what Raymond had planned, although if the kiss was anything to go by he could give a pretty good guess. He just wasn’t sure he wanted to get roped into… whatever his plan was, especially considering Boxman’s reaction to the whole ordeal. Still, cash was cash, and if it was really as simple as pretending to be the robot’s boyfriend for a couple days…

     “You know what? I think I _am_ gonna go with it!” He exclaimed, puffing out his chest and donning a smug grin, and Enid sighed and walked back to her counter.

     “I literally can’t see this ending in a good way,” she said under her breath as she opened up her magazine again and kicked her feet up.

     “Psh, whatever.” Rad walked back to the storage room to finish restocking the shelves, somewhat offended Enid would question his judgement. Sure, there was the “Shannon Incident”, but that was over as soon as it started, and he didn’t plan on making the same mistake twice.  _This can_ only _end well_ , he told himself. Besides, Raymond was nothing like Shannon, and this was basically a business deal; nothing emotional about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading :3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wait, there's more to this plan of yours?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter brought to you by synonyms of "jump" and the "—" character

     When Rad walked outside, the sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon. Luckily, it was still summer, otherwise he’d be closing up in the dark, since Enid and K.O. had already left for the day. His van was one of the last vehicles in the parking lot, he noticed, save for a few others which probably belonged to various shop owners. 

     His tired footsteps echoed across the empty lot. As he neared his van, he glanced across the street and saw Boxmore—well, he saw the silhouette of the building framed by the dimming light.  _ Yeesh _ , he thought, and looked away just as quickly. He wasn’t too eager to remember everything that had happened that day, but it wasn’t as if he could forget either—not to mention the mere thought of that stupid sporty robot gave him a headache. Raymond’s intentions  _ seemed  _ harmless enough, and it wasn’t as though Rad was  _ scared  _ of him, but something kept him from trusting the scheme wholeheartedly.  _ Probably because he’s a villain? _ he reasoned, which was good enough for him, at least to stop thinking about it for now.

     Pushing the topic to the furthest corner of his mind, he pulled out his keys to unlock his door, the last rays of sun being just enough to see. Just as he was about to unlock it, however, the side door slid open with a  _ woosh! _ , causing Rad to stumble backwards in surprise.

     “Greetings, Rad,” an unfortunately familiar voice greeted him, and he relaxed his stance. Raymond was sitting on the floor of the back of his van, one arm draped over the back passenger seat with the other resting on the metal floor, and his back leaning against the opposite wall. “For your trouble,” he smiled and tossed him the stack of technos. Rad caught it just barely, caught only slightly off-guard.

     “What the—how did you get in my van?” he asked incredulously.

     “What are you talking about? The little kid let me in,” he answered.

     “Oh.” Rad  _ really  _ needed to change his locks.

     The conversation lulled, caught in an uncomfortable silence that neither moved to fill. Rad attempted to avoid eye contact by looking anywhere else, and finally settled on the ground. Showing no sign of moving, Raymond began to tap his finger against the seat, seemingly impatient. Finally, Rad spoke.

     “So, uh, are you gonna get out of my van, ‘cause I kinda need to go home now…” he asked, feeling partially awkward and partially annoyed he even had to ask at all.

     “Fine,” he stood up, “but I’m not leaving until we’re clear on part two of this plan,” he said nonchalantly.

     “Woah woah  _ woah.  _ Just how much is there to this little ‘plan’ of yours? I already did my part, and there’s no  _ way _ I am doing anything else for you.” At this point, Raymond has exited the van completely, arms crossed and standing at his full height, which Rad reluctantly admitted was a little taller than he was. Not the type to be intimidated, he stood his ground. “Why should I keep going along with this?”

     “Because you  _ really _ need to fix up the interior of that van,” Raymond offered, glancing back, unimpressed.

     Ignoring him, he continued, “How do I know the money isn’t, like, stolen?” The realization of what he said dawned on him, and then, a bit more timidly, he asked, “These  _ aren’t _ stolen, are they?”

     “Typical hero,” Raymond let out a little laugh that sounded less like a genuine laugh and more like the chuckle of an anime villain. “No, it’s not stolen. Boxman gives us each a meager allowance; I just had the common sense to save up for something worthwhile.” Taken aback, Rad didn’t respond. Raymond probably just worded the sentence weirdly—

     “Not  _ you  _ specifically, obviously,” he clarified with a slight eye roll, as if he were reading his mind.

     “Why should I trust you? You’re literally a villain,” Rad said.

     “You already did,” he responded, not missing a beat. “Anyways, we’re really running out of daylight to plan this out,” he pointed out, looking to the west, and Rad noticed it was practically dark already. He was here  _ way _ longer than he wanted to be. “I can tell you probably don’t want another visit from me, so I’ll make this quick.”

     Not wanting to argue and accidentally draw out this ‘meeting', Rad didn’t respond, only hoping whatever he wanted him to do wouldn’t be too inconvenient. What was he so worried about anyways? Didn’t seem like Boxman would see through the plan quickly, plus he didn’t think it being a scheme all along would really change much. Wouldn’t he still be angry either way? Whatever, it didn’t really matter, as long as Rad got paid.

     “Okay, you’re going to be outside my window at ten tonight, and not a minute later…”

* * *

     Raymond looked at the digital clock next to him, which was blinking an angry ‘10:09PM’, and huffed. If he didn’t show up soon, this whole thing would be thrown off. What didn’t he understand about ‘not a minute later’? Suddenly, a knock sounded at his window. Okay, knock was an understatement; it was more of a  _ bang _ that left a visible crack in the glass. Jumping out of his bed, he rushed to open the window and glared down at Rad, who was wearing a sheepish grin.

     “I said  _ pebble _ !” Raymond nearly shouted.

     “Well, I didn’t see one! It worked, didn’t it?” Rad retorted, matching his tone.

     “You’re late,” Raymond ignored his interjection. “And where’s the boom box?”

     He shrugged. “Couldn’t find one dude. I’ll just use my phone.” With that, Raymond leaned back into his room, hand on his forehead and face twisted in an annoyed grimace. He  _ really  _ didn’t think he was asking too much, and yet Rad couldn’t follow a _ simple instruction _ ! “This is a disaster,” he groaned, and looked back down to a rather bored-looking Rad.

     “So, like, are we still doing this, or…” Rad trailed off and Raymond huffed.

     “We’ll just have to go with it, I  _ guess _ .” Just as he had finished the sentence, the distinctive  _ click _ of a light switch sounded in the room next to his—Shannon’s room. “I think they’re waking up, do you remember what to do?”

     He rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah I know,” he made a dismissive hand gesture. Raymond glared at him, beginning to doubt this would ever work. Before he had a chance to say anything else, the window next to his burst open, revealing a disheveled Shannon and Darrell, who were barely beginning to process what was happening.

     Raymond leaned out the window to look at them, and then said, “Oh, hurry up and get Boxdad already.” Shannon and Darrell glanced at each other confusedly, probably wondering why he would  _ want _ them to get Boxman, but if they did, it didn’t last long. In an instant, they both hurried off back into the room, returning shortly with Boxman, who was now complaining loudly about being woken up at such an hour.

     Raymond closed his eyes and composed himself.  _ 3, 2, 1… _

     “Why, if it isn’t my love, Radicles!” he gestured grandly to Rad, who was still checking his phone, unassumingly. He made a static noise in lieu of a cough and repeated himself. “I  _ said _ , if it isn’t—”

     “Oh, is that my cue?” Rad asked to no one in particular before noticing Boxman now standing in the window next to Raymond’s. “I mean, uh, yeah, it’s me, Rad, your, uh…” he appeared to shudder before continuing, “...boyfriend.”  _ Well, that’s just rude, _ Raymond thought, slightly annoyed at this shameful display, but what did he expect? He supposed beggars couldn’t be choosers—then again, as if he would  _ ever _ stoop as low as to beg—

     “RAD?! What are you doing on my lawn?” Boxman demanded, clearly not putting two and two together just yet.

     “I’m here for your, uh, robot—your son?” He answered, and Raymond looked on unamused. As with everything else, he’d have to carry this entire scheme by himself. “Oh, wait, I almost forgot—” Rad fished his phone back out of his pocket and fiddled with it for a moment. “Here we go,” he announced a bit too proudly as he held the tiny device above his head towards the window.

     “ _ Feeling tired and worn-out after a battle? Then you need _ —”

     “Wait, my bad, that was an ad. Okay, here it is,” Rad held the phone back up, and this time, a slow, rhythmic song began playing out of the phone speaker, while he looked at anything but Raymond. Boxman was, yet again, to angry to form a coherent sentence, starting and stopping himself everytime it seemed he would finally set off on a rant or lecture. His siblings seemed too stunned, or maybe confused, to say anything; looking at each other and then back to Rad, as if wondering if this was actually happening.

     Unfortunately it was. Well, it was unfortunate for the rest of the Boxmore family, he guessed. For Raymond, this was more or less what he expected. Would it help if Rad was just a bit more competent? Sure, but really, he was the only one going along with his admittedly insane plan. He was lucky Boxman was too preoccupied with anger to think logically—otherwise he would’ve seen through the whole situation ages ago.

     Suddenly Boxman’s sporadic outbursts of anger from Boxman halted, and the three bots turned to look at him. “Shannon? Darrell?” he asked, in a tone that could only be described as the calm before the storm.

     “Yes?” they answered in unison, nervously.

     “ATTACK HIM!” he shouted, and Darrell and Shannon were quick to jump into action. Leaping from the bedroom window, they launched towards Rad, who was suddenly much more responsive. He let out a tiny yelp, being caught off guard, but quickly readied himself to fight. The bots hit the ground opposite of him with a thud, revving their respective weapons. Rad wasn’t backing down, though, and before either of them could launch an attack, he had them immobilized in a purple aura. Not wasting any time, he sent them flying back to the factory, a crash sounding shortly after.

     “I’d  _ love _ to stick around and turn more bots into scrap metal, but I think I’d rather be  _ home _ right now,” Rad said, glaring at Raymond as if the whole ordeal was his fault. Well, it  _ was _ , but he was the one who couldn’t follow a simple plan. If he had just brought the stereo, Raymond was sure this meeting would’ve gone a lot more smoothly. He scoffed and sent Rad away with an insincere half-wave, relieved the night was over. “Bye, love,” Rad called at him sarcastically, placing air quotes around the word ‘love’ and sticking his tongue out at him.

     From Raymond’s perspective, the night should’ve been a total failure, but seeing as his siblings were sent out this time in an effort to stop…  _ this _ , he’d say it was a modest success. Though, he really did need to explain to Rad what a plan was, otherwise anything more intricate was bound to fall apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sheesh, so sorry it took *this* long to update, a lot of life things got in the way and I wasn't able to focus too much on this. I can't promise the next update will be up within a shorter time, but I do hope to finish the next chapter soon. Whatever happens, I'm pretty determined to finish this, so bear with me ^_^  
> As always, comments and kudos appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading y’all, comments & kudos always appreciated!


End file.
